Any magical automatic transmission fluid?

[TilliamWe]

My 2004 Chevy Impala has 125,000 miles on it. Also, for the first 4 years of its life, it would be left idling, all day long, while I inspected wrecked cars.
Well, the transmission is starting to slip a little, only upon initial take off. Not all the time, not just when cold or hot, very intermittently. It has shifted very hard between the gears on about 3 occasions in the last year. The filter has been changed at 65k at 95k, and again at 115k, so maintenance is not the real issue. I checked the fluid yesterday, it's full, not burned, but I did see some foreign material on the very base of the stick. Obviously, I will be changing the filter again.

My main question is, "Is there a transmission fluid that can help prolong it's life now that it has started to slip?"

Thanks

 

[Shizzy]

Re: Any magical automatic transmission fluid?

I doubt anything is going to buy you more then a short bit of time. yo uare already over 100K and you saw material on the stick.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Any magical automatic transmission fluid?

Hey I had transmission problems a while back and a transmission rebuilder told me to try TRANS X and the slipping went away and that was in an older Ford.

When I had my 2002 Impala I had the fluid changed and they used some BG products http://www.bgprod.com/products/transmission.html and I never had a problem. The shop back flushed the trans for the service.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Any magical automatic transmission fluid?

Bob, I have thought about having it flushed, and then if it stops working completely, blame it on the trans shop. Unfortunately in the insurance business, we insured shops that got accused of stuff like that all the time. But in the end, I am too honest to do that.

Shizzy, these transmissions last a lot longer than 100k, so that's not a benchmark. My sister has a 2004 Impala, bought from my former employer, (same as mine) that wasn't idled all day long, and it has NO issues, even at 125k+. I am just making it clear that I caused this, not GM.

Thanks for the info.

If anyone else knows of other products, let me know.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Any magical automatic transmission fluid?

Not sure if your tranny has a filter but if it does.....have the tranny fluid changed the old fashion way with the pan dropped and filter replaced. My truck tranny was slipping and this absolutely cured it. (I had previously had a flush done) And a lot of people swear by the Lucas Trans Fix. Haven't tried it myself but you don't have much to lose.

 

[rbh]

Re: Any magical automatic transmission fluid?

Are the clutch packs adjustable like a c6?

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Any magical automatic transmission fluid?

Are the clutch packs adjustable like a c6?

No.

 

[642mx]

Re: Any magical automatic transmission fluid?

And a lot of people swear by the Lucas Trans Fix. Haven't tried it myself but you don't have much to lose.

I was going to mention the Lucas. Its a band-aid... but it will work 99% of the time.

If you found material in the fluid, suck a quart of fluid out, put some Lucas in, and start saving for an overhaul.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Any magical automatic transmission fluid?

I was going to mention the Lucas. Its a band-aid... but it will work 99% of the time.

If you found material in the fluid, suck a quart of fluid out, put some Lucas in, and start saving for an overhaul.

Oh, I'm gonna change the filter. I see that O'Reilly's sells the Lucas product.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Any magical automatic transmission fluid?

Sometimes the flush method does more harm than good.

I would change the filter and use the Trans-X.
It worked in an old van i had and stopped the slip and hard shift.I drove it another 2 years like that.
Worth a try...

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Any magical automatic transmission fluid?

What retailer carries Trans-X?

 

[mla2ofus]

Re: Any magical automatic transmission fluid?

Changing the filter is just as important as changing the fluid. When the filter starts getting plugged the pump starves for oil and that's what makes the slipping start due to lower pressure on the clutch packs.
Mike

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Any magical automatic transmission fluid?

What retailer carries Trans-X?

Napa and many other major parts stores.

 

[JustJason]

Re: Any magical automatic transmission fluid?

I'd say try the trans-x as well, nothing to lose by it. I'd also flush the tranny and lose the dextron and go with type F for a tranny with that many miles on it. If the flush seems to work and you have a few extra bucks it wont hurt to install a seperate tranny cooler. Cold tranny oil is happy tranny oil.

 

[allen6634]

Re: Any magical automatic transmission fluid?

sorry i hit the bottons too fast

 

[allen6634]

Re: Any magical automatic transmission fluid?

im a trans builder by trade, and i can only give you bad news. when a transmission starts to show problems, there is no easy fix.the tranny you have, has over 1,000 parts in it and some, inherit problems. i will give you my advice though, i would change the fluid and filter.look at the magnet, in bottom of pan , if there is a large amount of metal buildup,for get this statment! if the pan is somewhat clean,continue with service add some lub- gard. to your tranny. and hope for the best. good luck. and the aftermarket cooler is allways a great idea

 

[dr_bowtie]

Re: Any magical automatic transmission fluid?

Lucas....that stuff works...


beings I said that...that trany is electric...so any sensor could give it fits...I had one that would slip on occasion and would also drop shift...sensor was bad..

Pull the codes from teh ECM and see if there are any tranny codes...

anytime you take it to a trany shop most will try to sell you a trans 99% of the time..even if it is a 20.00 sensor...

this is why I started doing my own trany work...most trany rebuild kits are only 350.00 for the full master kits and rest is labor...I can do one in a day easy...

most trany shops charge 1800.00 for a trany job...thats 1500.00 per trany..

find an honest shop that will diagnose and tell you what is exactly wrong and how much it will cost to fix it...

we have one in our area and thats where I go when I need parts...

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Any magical automatic transmission fluid?

I'll agree with the Trans-X. I dumped in a quart right before I was ready to rip the tranny out,,, and it fixed the problem.

Probably the best $10 snake oil I ever bought

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Any magical automatic transmission fluid?

beings I said that...that trany is electric...so any sensor could give it fits...I had one that would slip on occasion and would also drop shift...sensor was bad...

We had a 3sp auto do that once too. Actually, my dad unplugged the big plug, cleaned it and re-installed it. It worked fine after that.

I had considered adding a cooler when I first bought the car in 2005 with 64,000 miles on it. I just didn't do it.

The last time I changed the filter, the magnet had a fair amount of metal on it, more than it did the first time. It'll be interesting to see what it has now.

Jason, I didn't think you could use Type F in place of Dextron???

Allen, I don't like your opinion! That's a joke, btw.

 

[SuperNova]

Re: Any magical automatic transmission fluid?

Just a funny aside....we used to fix some trans shifting problems by blasting a 30 second shot of choke/carb cleaner down the fill tube. The exact instructions were right on the can! Ahh, the olden days.

By the way, I wouldn't do the "type f" suggestion. You'll run a good chance of shredding whatever is left of your clutches and also possibly damage your torque converter lockup clutch.